Remotely Control Alexa from Anywhere Using your Phone

It’s like something straight out of a science fiction. Verbal interaction with machines used to bethe stuff science fictions was made up of, but not anymore. Intelligent machines have entered our lives and digital voice assistance like Alexa is fast becoming an integral part of every household.

Alexa is the Amazon digital voice assistant with which you can interact to access information and control compatible devices. You can buy smartphones or iPhones that are compatible with Alexa to control Alexa while you are away from home.

Some interesting facts about Alexa

Alexa was inspired by the interactive computer voice that was used in the original Star Trek TV series.

The name “Alexa” was chosen because the “X” is more easily recognizable for voice recognition

The word “Alexa” pays homage to the famed ancient library at Alexandria.

How you can use Alexa

You can use Alexa to answer all your questions on: traffic, weather, news, etc. Alexa can also initiate phone calls, play music, manage your to-do/grocery list, shop from Amazon and do many more things. You can also make use of Alexa by extending its potential to interact with third-party services. Alexa then transforms into Alexa Skills, a smart home hub to enhance your lifestyle.

Alexa is a smart home hub

Alexa Skills can order takeout food, play songs from a specific streaming service, request an uber, switch lights on/off, start the coffee machine/washing machine, adjust A/C, adjust volume, turn TV on/off, and many more things if the control for these devices is embedded in the Alexa Skills database.

Alexa can be controlled remotely through your smartphone or iOS. Read below to know how to control Alexa on your phone.

Control Alexa from iOS

Download and install Amazon shopping app, if it’s not already there on your iPhone.

Launch the app and login to your Amazon account.

Tap the microphone button that is on the top-right corner of the screen.

Then tap the “Allow Microphone Access” button at the bottom.

Hit OK. The app now has the permission to use your iPhone’s microphone.

Once that’s done, you can command Alexa by tapping the microphone button and then saying your command. If the blue bar at the bottom is lit, that means Alexa is listening to you.

Control Alexa From an Android Phone

Open the Alexa app. Update it for the revised version.

Tap the Alexa button. It is represented as a speech balloon inside of a circle. The button is located at the bottom of your screen.

Tap the “Allow” button. This gives Alexa the permission to use your phone’s microphone and location.

Hit “Done” button at the bottom.

Once that’s done, Alexa is ready to respond to your commands. All you have to do is tap the Alexa button and start commanding.

The advantage of Alexa on a smartphone is that Alexa uses the screen to respond to your commands. If you ask her about the weather, she’ll automatically tell the forecast with a pop up of the weather forecast on the screen. If you ask her about the coffee shops nearby, she’ll respond to you by using the location to showthe names of the coffee shops nearby on the screen.

You can also set Alexa as your default digital assistant. All you have to do is go to the settings of the Alexa app and navigate to Assist app. Alexa will then replace “Hey Google” to be your default digital assistant. However, it may not work on all Android devices

Once Alexa is configured on your smartphone or iPhone, it is all set to respond to your commands from anywhere. Just like that!

Author Bio:-

Dev Bhatt is the head of digital marketing at OnlyMobiles. He is a tech enthusiast and loves to review and write about gadgets of all sorts – smartphones, tablets, or any electronics. He’s impulsive to check out what’s new in the market and share his findings with his readers so they can make